Tale of Yokai: Redux
by tvfan69
Summary: An alternate telling of The Tale of Yokai. What if at the end of Vengeance is Mine Karai didn't go after Shredder? She would've been there that night to meet Renet, she would've had the chance to save her mother's life, but at what cost? Two-Shot! (Rated T for death, but I'm not saying whose!)
1. Chapter 1

Today had been a weird day, even for the Hamato's. It had started as a normal day; they watched he latest episode of Crognard, Donnie blew a few things up, Raph and Karai got a little too competitive in training again, normal day.

Then they all headed out on patrol.

They were only out for twenty minutes before a girl literally fell out of the sky. She looked like something out of a Sci-Fi movie, a really bad one where you can't get past the fact that some thousand years in the future the human race lives in some kind of brainwashed harmony and they all wear the same ridiculous uniform. This girl was named Renet, and she claimed to be not only from the future but also chasing an evil time lord. Now none of the five siblings would've believed this, except for Mikey, if it weren't for the fact that she brought them all back in time to the middle ages. As if that doesn't already push the already obliterated boundaries of normal it just got weirder as they defeated this evil time lord. So they were just returning home, when some interference sent everybody but the one person with a time scepter through a random time portal.

This is what had lead the Hamato's to their current predicament, picking themselves up after landing heavily on the ground.

"Where the heck are we now?" Raph questioned, obviously not to happy with the sudden change in plans.

"The time stream must have been messed with, now we're in…" Leo trailed off as he approached the edge of the cliff they had landed on.

As the other three got to their feet Mikey and Donnie looked around, and so did Karai, but unlike her brothers something about this place seemed familiar. It looked a lot like the forest she had trained in as a child, but she quickly shook the thought away.

 _All forests' look the same,_ she tried to tell herself, but Leo soon proved her wrong.

"Japan?" He asked more than stated, but he was looking out at a city, and he knows enough about Japan to recognize the Tokyo tower.

 _No way,_ Karai thought to herself, but as she joined her brothers on the edge of the cliff she couldn't deny it, they were on the outskirts of the city she had grown up in.

"Japan?" Donnie asked, but much like his sister he couldn't argue once he saw for himself. "Well at least we're back in modern times," he said in an attempt to lighten the situation.

"And at least we know our way around." Karai muttered.

"Speak for yourself," Raph huffed

"I am," Karai said, Raph and the others looked at her in some confusion. "Are you guys forgetting that I grew up in Tokyo?" She asked

"Yeah but if we're too far in the future or the past-" Leo began but Karai cut him off.

"I know but at least I have an idea of where things are," she said and the guys wouldn't argue with that.

Not that they had a chance to, however, because just then arrows began landing in the ground, backing siblings up against each other. They readied their weapons, a mix of their usual arsenal and what they used in the middle ages. As they prepared for battle their enemy, or to be more specific **enemies** dropped down to reveal that they were a gang of red clad ninjas.

"Ninjas," Mikey said as their opponents revealed themselves.

"I think we're in deep trouble," Leo commented, noticing that they were outnumbered and more than likely outmatched.

There was one break in the enemy's defense, though it was sure to be closed in seconds. Still the five siblings decided to take advantage of it while they could and on Leo's signal made their move, to run.

"NINJAS!" They screamed in fear as they ran

"This way!" Karai shouted as she made a sharp turn, the others followed and although Raph at least had every intention of asking his sister where she was leading them he never got the chance, because the red ninjas caught up.

"When ARE we?" Leo questioned as the five of them once again found themselves backed against each other, this time with no way out.

Just then a ninja attacked the leader, wrapping a Kusarigama around his sword, which Leo used to dodge the attack. The fight spread the five siblings out and resulted in each of them fighting, and losing, their own separate battles.

"These guys are good." Donnie commented as one ninja sliced clean through his fake beard.

As that happened Leo caught sight of the emblem on one of the throwing stars Raph had narrowly dodged.

"They're not just ninja, they're Hamato Clan. Splinter's Clan!" He exclaimed but was abruptly shut up by a harsh elbow to his stomach.

"But the Hamato Clan doesn't exist anymore, right?" Raph pointed out from his battle, before anyone could answer him his helmet was knocked off and the attackers seemed to freeze in their tracks, after they nearly dislocated both of Raph's arms and knocked him to the ground of course.

"What the… what creatures are these?" One of the ninja's began to say in Japanese, not that his enemies didn't understand.

"They are Yokai!" Another one answered, "They will curse us all!"

As Raph got back to his feet the battle looked as though it might be worse, but a voice cut through.

"What is going on here?" Karai didn't know about her brothers, but when she heard the voice her stomach dropped. A man made his was through the ninjas, a man wearing a sleeveless uniform with the Hamato crest on each shoulder. "Yokai?" He said in surprise.

"Shredder?" Leo responded in equal surprise.

"This can not be," Shredder said but before anything else could be said by anyone Mikey dropped a smoke bomb.

But in the smoke, Karai just stood there. She was still trying to process what was going on and she didn't move until Leo seized her arm and began dragging her.

They ran. They ran fast and they ran far. They went up into the trees and hopped from branch to branch, ditching their middle age disguises in the process.

"That was a close call dudes!" Mikey exclaimed as they moved through the trees.

"Oroku Saki was part of the Hamato Clan before he became the Shredder." Donnie recalled as he and Leo finally touched the ground, deciding that they had put enough distance between them and the Hamato Clan.

"Which means we're at least sixteen years in the past. But why here, why now?" Leo questioned

"Who knows!" Donnie exclaimed,

"Twenty bucks says its all Renet's fault, she doesn't know the first thing about time travel!" Raph exclaimed

"Yo guys, check it!" Mikey grabbed all their attentions, "That's Splinter's old dojo right?" He asked, but the display of the Hamato flag on the front porch was answer enough.

"Come on ninja's, maybe Splinter's in there." Leo said, advancing forward, but Karai grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"What are you going to do, ask him for help?" She all but snapped.

Leo narrowed his eyes at her, annoyed not only by her suddenly angry tone but also her little faith in him. "I'm going to see what's going on; if he's in there then maybe he'll say something that'll give us a clue as to when exactly we are." He said but Karai only scoffed.

"Or, since we're less likely to get caught and die in the process, why don't I just walk into the city and find a newspaper?" She suggested

"Dressed like that?" Raph asked, gesturing with a sai at her armor.

"Believe me this won't attract any attention in Tokyo," Karai deadpanned, recalling all the bizarre outfits she'd seen over the course of her life in the city.

"No, we can't mess with the past. Just you talking to anyone could have unforeseen effects on the future. I'm with Leo, we listen to whatever is going on in there and try to determine when we are from that." Donnie argued and Karai rolled her eyes in annoyance, but followed the others inside, knowing she had been out voted.

They hid right outside the door, being careful not to be spotted. Oroku Saki was talking to an elderly man, and although Karai had never seen a picture of the man she knew exactly who he was, Hamato Yuuta, her grandfather.

"Yokai? Your imagination has run wild Saki!" A young man came laughing; all five of the teens couldn't help but gasp as they recognized the man.

"Whoa, human Splinter!" Leo said in awe

"He looks weird without fur," Mikey commented as he almost stuck his head further into the dojo, Karai and Raph grabbed him and yanked him back before he could get them caught.

They listened as Splinter mocked and laughed at Shredder, and with each word Karai felt her heart sinking deeper and deeper into her chest. Meanwhile Mikey was quickly seeing a resemblance in the relationship between young Splinter and Shredder, to the one between his two oldest brothers.

"Some legends say that when the Yokai arrive, tragedy his sure to follow."

After that her three youngest brothers began a whispered argument about the Yokai, but Karai couldn't hear them. She was too distracted by her thoughts, because now it was very clear to her when exactly they were. Tragedy was soon to follow, tragedy that she was suddenly counting herself grateful she can't remember from the first time around.

Suddenly, the sound of fighting snapped her from her thoughts, as well as the boys from their discussion, and they all peered inside to see Splinter and Shredder sparring. During their spar they fought, over the Yokai's existence, over their past, but mostly over Tang Shen. Karai was the first to stand up, having watched more of this than she could handle.

"Let's get out of here, they're done talking." She said and with a shared glance the others agreed and they bolted.

* * *

"Ugh… we haven't had any real food in days." Mikey whined as he stared miserably at the three cherries in his hand. It was getting to be late at night, and yet again they were camping out in the woods.

"Just be thankful we have anything at all." Karai snapped from where she sat behind a tree.

The boys all looked at her uneasily, and she knew it too, but no one said anything. She'd been in a bad mood pretty much ever sense they got here, and by now the four turtles know her well enough to know that she isn't someone you want to confront when she's in a bad mood.

"Is Renet ever gonna find us and bring us home?" Raph asked for the umpteenth time since they'd landed here. "Seriously, I hate time travel!" He continued.

"You're not the only one," Karai muttered, though no one heard her.

"I've been giving it some thought, I kind of seems like more than just coincidence we're here right?" Leo asked as he threw some more wood on the fire, Karai's ears perked up just a little at the sound of that and she began actually listening.

"Well the odds that we're in this exact place and time by sheer accident is like 879 quintillion to one but if we're here for a reason, what is it?" Donnie asked after giving his statistic and at his question Karai raised her whole head in hope.

 _Please, please, please,_ she prayed mentally.

"I don't know but there's got to be one," Leo said and at that Karai had enough; she was so close and yet so, so far. She tipped her head back against the tree in frustration and let out a groan.

"Oh that is it!" She growled as she finally stood up and turned to face her brothers, "You want to know why we're here?" She questioned, "Why don't you morons open up your eyes! We've spent our entire lives living in fear of Shredder and now we have a chance to stop all that before it starts!" She nearly shouted as her anger began boiling over, and she was struggling to put a lid on it.

"Karai, we can't mess with the timeline." Donnie said, trying to talk to her gently, finally beginning to understand what she must be feeling from being here.

"Believe me I know that," she said with a sudden frustration, "but what other reason could there be? She questioned, but before anyone had the chance to answer someone came walking through the bushes.

It wasn't just any random person, it was a woman holding a baby in her arms, it was Tang Shen and baby Miwa.

At first the teenagers just stared at the two, Tang Shen doing the same and staring back at them. Karai was the first to move, although all she did was shut her mouth take a seat.

"Yo-Yokai," Tang Shen said, panic starting to rise in her voice.

Leo glanced at Karai, but she was frozen, and he knew that she was counting on him to make the call.

"It's ok, we're friendly Yokai." He said, something that had apparently surprised Karai judging by her face, honestly she had expected her brothers to just run away in order to keep the timeline in tact.

"Yeah, we're not going to hurt you." Raph said

"Yeah, check out the cute eyes." Mikey said, doing his best happy puppy face, unfortunately he got a little to close to Miwa with it and she started wailing like a siren.

Despite this, however, Tang She still seemed to be considering that the creatures were friendly, and the fact that they had a human companion was certainly helping their case with her. However before she could decide Saki swooped in from nowhere with his sword, obviously having heard Miwa's cries. He forced the Yokai and their friend to scatter and hide, and just when Tang Shen thought they had gone he stabbed through a tree and forced one out of hiding.

"Fear not Shen, I will destroy these wretched monsters." He announced in a deadly voice that told her he wasn't kidding.

But with one down the other four quickly came out of hiding and fought against Saki.

"If we're going to take Shredder down now's our chance," Raph said, his voice indicating that it was a very serious suggestion.

"No, we can't mess with time. If we do worse stuff could happen." Donnie stood firmly on his point.

"Then let's get out of here before I do I something stupid," Karai commented and so they left, but they didn't go far and merely hid among the trees.

They watched the exchange between Saki and Shen, and Karai couldn't tell what she hated more. How genuine Saki sounded, or the fact that she herself had actually been quieted by his touch. But that wasn't even the worst of it. No the worst of it was after Shen left and Yoshi showed up, and just left again in anger.

"Whoa, young Oroku Saki's kind of a good guy right?" Mikey asked but he was answered by a not so gentle slap to the arm by Leo. When he his head turned to ask what that was for he found that Leo was glaring daggers at him, before cocking his head over to Karai who was facing away from all of them and instead watching Yoshi walk away.

"Good guy?" Raph asked incredulously, "He's a total creep!" Well hopefully that would make Karai feel better about what she had just witnessed.

"Maybe we should take Shredder down," Leo suggested

"If we interfere with history Splinter will never move to New York and buy four baby turtles, who's gonna stop the Kraang Invasion and save all of New York huh?" Donnie exclaimed in frustration, clearly still 100% against taking out Shredder before the real war begins.

Leo turned to Karai, sadness in his eyes as he looked at her. He was finally starting to realize how hard this must be for her. All her life, she only ever wanted one thing; her mother. Now she has a chance, she can have the life she dreamed of. She can change her history. She can grow up with two parents, her real parents. She can be happy, no more secrets, no more lies, just her and her parents. But yet she's sitting here, listening to Donnie shoot down all those dreams over and over again.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" He finally asked and she gave a sigh.

"What do you want me to say Leo?" She asked in a surprisingly calm voice before she shifted her position to face the four of them. "If we change history and take out Shredder now I get my mom back, I get my life back. But I lose you guys and without anyone fighting the Kraang odds are I die at sixteen. If we leave well enough alone then I lose my mom when I'm too young to remember her, I grow up as a prisoner, and I live in fear that the man who raised me will kill me. But I eventually gain you guys and Splinter, I gain Casey and April as friends, and I'm not an only child for the rest of my life." She explained, the sadness on her face almost greater than Leo's.

"You might not always be an only child," Leo tried as Karai got to her feet, careful to keep her balance on the tree branch.

"I'll do whatever you guys decide, but please leave me out of the decision because the way I see it, I lose either way." She said and with that she pushed her way past Mikey and climbed down the tree, heading back to restart their campfire.

For a moment the four brothers were quiet, partially because they wanted to be sure Karai wouldn't hear them and partially because they had no idea what to say.

"Guys, I don't want to take Karai's life away from her." Donnie finally said, for the first time actually considering taking out Shredder in the past.

"But what about the life she has now?" Mikey asked with a pout, not wanting to be separated from his big sister again. "She even said she doesn't want to lose us," he continued but Raph folded his arms over his chest.

"She won't remember us, she'll have lived a whole different life. One where she was happy for most of it." He said

"Oh man, this is like that show we used to watch!" The youngest turtle exclaimed, "You know, the one with the guy who used a magical wishing skull to wish that his girlfriend was never kidnapped from her real family by the evil clan and because of that she lived a whole different life where they never met and… wow, this really is a lot like that. Dudes, do you think we're secretly in a show?" He began to ask but Raph had enough by that point.

"This isn't American Dragon you idiot! This is real life and whether or not we take out Shredder now it's going to have serious consequences!" He roared

"Uh guys?" Donnie interrupted before showing his brothers his phone, "Casey is fading from this picture, us already interfering with history as already begun to alter it!" He exclaimed and with that Leo narrowed his eyes.

"Let's focus on whether or not we save Tang Shen later, right now we need to convince her not to run away with Saki. Out of all the outcomes this could have, I have a feeling that one is the worst." Leo decided.

"Let's focus on whether or not we save Tang Shen later, right now we need to convince her not to run away with Saki. Out of all the outcomes this could have, I have a feeling that one is the worst." Leo decided.


	2. Chapter 2

She asked them to do one thing, make a decision. Karai knows it's an impossible decision to make, probably better than anyone, but as if this whole situation wasn't already killing her now her brothers weren't even letting her prepare herself for whatever would come. But she kept her mouth shut as they hid in the trees; waiting for Tang Shen to pass through in an attempt to make sure she didn't go off with Saki, probably the one thing they were doing that Karai wasn't opposed to at all. When Shen finally came into sight below them, carrying her infant daughter of course, Karai suddenly found herself regretting positioning herself next to Mikey.

"Aw sis, you were so cute as a baby!" He gushed but she kept a scowl firmly in place.

"Just don't make her cry again," she snapped.

"Don't you mean make _you_ cry?" Her little brother teased but she just rolled her eyes, if the timeline does stay in tact he is NEVER going to let this go.

"Whatever," she snapped before following Leo's signal to move.

When they jumped down so suddenly, and Donnie going with the "we come in peace," method they seemed to have scared Shen more than anything, that is until Mikey started dancing.

"Uh, what's he doing?" Karai questioned, Mikey normally does things like this, but this was going on a little too long for it to just be Mikey being Mikey.

"Don't ask me," Leo answered her, but all became clear when baby Miwa began giggling happily at the performance.

"It's ok Tang Shen!" The youngest turtle was quick to say, "We promise we won't hurt you." He said, sincerity coating his voice.

"Are you aliens or Yokai?" Shen asked

"Um, friendly Yokai Shen. We need to talk to you," Donnie said, getting straight to the point.

* * *

Shen brought the turtles, or Yokai as she called them, back to her apartment on the outskirts of the city. When they reached the apartment and got in the door Karai followed her natural habit and took her shoes off in the doorway, but as she did Shen stood by her doing the same.

"You must tell me how you came to travel with the Yokai, I'm sure it must be a very interesting tale." She said, by now she had determined that this girl was a friend to the Yokai and traveling with them willingly.

Karai just stared at her for a minute; the whole way here she had opted to stay in shadows with her brothers instead of in the open with Shen and, well, her younger self.

"Uh sure, but they really need to talk to you first." She finally stuttered out as if she had gone brain dead.

With a content nod Shen disappeared into the next room, which Raph came walking out of.

"What's with you?" He demanded of Karai

"What?" She snapped back

"Dude, no matter what's going to happen a few days from now you have your mom back right now! Stop hiding behind us and talk to her!" He scolded in a whisper of a voice.

"She doesn't know who I am and I can't tell her, what do you want me to say?" Karai demanded

"I don't know, didn't you ever have any questions you wished you could ask her?" He asked,

"Yeah but I figured them out for myself," She replied and Raph was going to continue their argument, but Leo called for them to hurry up before he could.

When the two of them entered the kitchen the other three were sitting around the table while Tang Shen was rummaging through the shelves of a closet looking for something, and Mikey was holding Miwa.

"Check it out sis, I'm your big brother now!" The youngest turtle exclaimed quietly so that Tang Shen wouldn't hear him, not that she could've over all the clanking of whatever she was moving in the closet.

"Great," Karai said with a roll of her eyes, choosing not to point out that he wasn't holding the baby correctly.  
"Um, do you need some help in there?" Donnie asked as Shen emerged from the closet, a cutting board in her hand.  
"I assure you the noise sounds much worse, this was simply buried." Shen said with a small smile as she also pulled out a knife and some cucumbers.

Just then Mikey began panicking, because Miwa was trying to adjust her position so to be more comfortable and his inability to keep ahold of her was only make things worse.

"Guys, I think there's something wrong with her!" He said in a panic

"You mean other than the fact that she'll fall if she leans back the way you're holding her?" Karai questioned sarcastically, however she regretted opening her mouth when Mikey responded by holding the baby out to her.

"You take her then!" He practically begged

"No!" Karai refused instantly placing her hands behind her back and taking a step back.

"Sorry, she gets nervous around kids and he's an idiot." Raph apologized to Shen who was actually watching the exchange in amusement.

"Not to worry, Yoshi was not much better the first time he held Miwa." She laughed as Leo finally settled the argument by taking hold of the baby himself, not that he knew how to hold her either but after Shen took pity on him and adjusted his arms he became a little more comfortable with it.

She then began explaining about her history and why she moved here, before mentioning that Yokai are always hungry as Mikey quite literally gnawed on her countertop.

"Kappa? What's a Kappa?" Leo asked in response to what Shen had called them, as baby Miwa yanked forcefully on the tails of his mask.

"Turtle Yokai," Shen and Karai answered at the exact same time, Karai's answer coming out in a much angrier voice though.

Shen looked at Karai for a minute, a curious smile on her face, but Karai refused to look up.

"Your favorite food is cucumber, at least that's what the legends say." She continued as Mikey inspected the food she had cut up for them.

"Cucumber?" He asked, "Little known fact, our favorite food is pizza-" Mikey began but Karai punched him not so lightly on the side of the arms, cause him to glare at her.

"Don't be rude and eat the cucumber," she snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine, jeez you're angrier than Raph lately." He mumbled but Karai simply rolled her eyes, ignoring the reprimanding scowl Raph was sending her way.

However Shen, unfazed by the argument amongst her guests, began to tell them how her grandmother had told her the stories of the Yokai and how it saved an entire village.

"That's right, and we want to save you Tang Shen." Raph quickly said; Karai perked up a little at hearing this.

 _We do?_ She mentally asked

"That's why we Kappa have come to talk," Donnie said nervously, apparently he was also unaware that they were planning on saving Shen.

"You can't leave Hamato Yoshi," Leo said seriously, "He's a good man, Oroku Saki is evil." He continued, getting to the point rather quickly.

"No," Shen said solemnly, "Saki is a good man." She insisted, and she seemed to believe her words.

"If you choose Oroku Saki, the world itself could be at risk." Donnie said, being about as unsubtle as possible.

But apparently Shen chose to brush this off and only looked at her infant daughter, who was now nearly asleep, with sad and pained eyes.

"Yoshi is too dedicated to ninjistu to raise a family," she said, "I thought we could make our marriage work but we have been living separately ever since Miwa was two months old." She explained and upon hearing that Karai found that it took everything in her power not to punch the countertop.

"Miwa was an accident wasn't she?" She asked darkly, "and the reason you got married?" She continued as it suddenly dawned on her that the formal family portrait Splinter has in the dojo is a wedding picture.

For a moment everyone was silent, the four turtles trying to comprehend what Karai was getting at and Shen wondering what the angry girl before her had been though in her own life.

"Yoshi and I have been together for many years, Miwa was simply the last push we needed to decide to get married. It is also true that Miwa was created on accident, but just because something was not planned to happen does not make it a bad thing." Shen answered simply before her face fell, "Miwa is the greatest gift this world has ever given me and I must do what is right for her, I do not know whom I will choose." She admitted,

"Follow your heart Shen, you know who the better man is." Raph exclaimed and when Shen smiled it almost looked like she was going to listen to them, almost.

"Please, let me get you more cucumbers." She said before turning back to her cutting board. Behind her back her guests exchanged hopeless glances.

Donnie was quick to whip out his phone and notice that April was also beginning to fade from the picture.

"Leo," He said in a panicked voice but before Leo could say anything Shen turned back around and placed another plate of cucumber slices on the table.

"Now please, tell me how you came to travel with the Yokai. They say that a human who lives among them is often very special." She said to Karai who finally looked up from the counter and willed the bitterness out of her voice.

"I lost my parents." Was all she said and Shen frowned upon hearing that, and thankfully she got the message that the girl didn't want to talk about it.

"I am so sorry," she said before turning to the turtles, "please, you have come to try and help me but I do not even know your names." She more asked then said; Leo looked to Donnie who shrugged.

"Might as well, we've cause enough damage already anyway." He said

"My name is Leonardo. This is Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Karai." He introduced them.

Shen gave Karai a smile upon hearing her name, "It is interesting that you are named Karai, Yoshi and I were considering that name for Miwa." She said and at that Karai's anger seemed to dissipate, and become replace by curiosity.

"You were?" She asked and Shen nodded,

"Yes, it is a name I have always loved. But Yoshi's mother passed away three years ago, she was a very sweet woman. Her name was Miwa and so I suggested to Yoshi that we honor her memory by giving the name to our daughter." She explained and then with a giggle she looked over at Miwa who had fallen asleep in Leo's arms. "Speaking of Miwa, I believe it is time for her nap." She said as she took the baby from Leo. "Excuse me," she said politely before exiting the room to put the sleeping baby to bed.

"I didn't know you were named after your grandma," Mikey said to Karai who crossed her arms. "I'm starting to think there's a lot we didn't know." She said but Raph just turned to Leo.

"What are we going to do now?" He questioned and Leo narrowed his eyes.

"We're going to take out Shredder," He decided.

The others all just stared in surprise for a moment, even Karai, but they were broken out of it when Shen returned and Leo got to his feet.

"Thank you very much for the cucumbers Shen, but we have to go." He told her and she nodded understandingly.

"Of course, I wish you a safe journey. But before you go, may I please speak with Karai in private for a moment?" She asked, the guys exchanged looks, and Karai looked even more surprised than they did. But noticing how Raph looked as if he might shove her forward if she didn't move on her own Karai nodded and followed Shen out of the room.

* * *

She led the girl to a back room of the apartment where Miwa's crib was set up and once there she quietly began rummaging through to top drawer of the dresser. When she found what she was looking for she grabbed it and then turned back to Karai, who looked as though she expected to be scolded for whatever reason.

"Many years ago when I moved to this city, when Yoshi and I were still far from being married, his mother gave this to me." She explained as she held out a beautiful blue hairpin with golden flowers designed on it. "She told me that no matter where my future takes me I would always have a place to come if I were ever in need of help." She explained, "She said that this hairpin was given to her in her youth, when she was living on the streets of Tokyo. She stole it from an old woman, and then when she was arrested the woman insisted she keep it, telling her that sometimes it is the most damaged flower that is the most beautiful." She continued and she gently but firmly placed the pin into Karai's hand and refused to let her refuse.

Karai looked back at her mother, completely a loss for words.

"I… thank you," she finally settled on and Shen smiled back at her, then before the girl could turn and leave; Shen pulled her into a hug.

This, to say the least, caught Karai off guard. But she soon found herself hugging her mother back and hugging her tight. She couldn't help the few tears that began to well up in her eyes and this promptly embarrassed her when Shen pulled away from the hug and noticed.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized and she wiped her eyes, "it's just… It's been awhile since… I didn't mean to…" She stuttered but her mother smiled at her understandingly.

"Do not apologize child," Shen assured the girl before her. "I am truly sorry about your parents, but I am glad to see that you have found a family in the Yokai."

* * *

They reached the first of the fires that night just after Oroku Saki had started it.

"Yokai," he said when he saw them and he then ordered his men to attack, and the turtles knew that if they were going to take Saki out then they'd have to defeat these men quickly.

They charged into battle, doing their best to take down the newly recruited Foot ninjas. But they were very well trained and the battle lasted much longer then any of the teens would've liked. So with the battle tactic failing the boys opted for plan B and took to the shadows, laughing manically and letting the fire illuminate them in ways made them look absolutely terrifying.

"Booyakasha…" Mikey drawled out in a ghostly voice.

"Yokai! They will steal your soul!" One of the ninjas exclaimed before he fell to the ground in a limp heap, causing his partner to scream like a little girl in horror.

"That's right ninjas. We Yokai will steal your souls, through your butt!" Leo announced as three more ninjas fell to the ground one by one.

"Through your butt!" Raph commented in disgust after the last ninja was out and Karai reappeared, having been the one to silently render the men unconscious.

"What, that comes from real Japanese legend!" Leo defended

"Not any legend I know," Karai muttered,

"Whatever, let's just get to the dojo!" Leo quickly ordered.

* * *

They spotted the fire from a distance and quickened their pace, all the while praying that they wouldn't be too late.

When they got there Shen was just running into the burning building. Mikey and Raph called to her but she either didn't hear them or didn't listen because she continued on her way and the doorway collapsed before they could follow her.

"We have to get in there," Leo said but just then the sound of a baby crying caught his attention, and he noticed Miwa under a raised garden pot.

He and Karai locked eyes, the older version of the baby seeming to be the only other one who heard her.

"Go!" She shouted to Leo, between Miwa and the loud cackling of the blaze she needed to be sure he heard her. "I'll keep her safe, just go!" She continued and Leo looked wary for a moment, but he soon hurried to help his brothers get into the burning house.

Once her brothers were gone Karai looked down at the baby, and couldn't believe that she had once been this helpless. She then looked back at the fire, and watched it for what felt like an eternity. She didn't want to believe it, but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this wasn't going to work. So she knew she'd have to do this before her brothers emerged empty handed and led her away. She reached down and picked up the baby.

"Shh, shh baby girl shh." She said gently as she rocked the baby and her wails turned more to whimpers as she looked up to see who was holding her. "Listen to me, I know you're scared right now, and I'm sorry but you're going to be scared for a long long time. I wish that I could stop that but… I can't. You see one day a long time from now everything is going to be ok again, and if I save you now that day and the people who make that day possible will never come. You're gonna go through a lot of pain to get there, and there are going to be times where you feel nothing but rage for days on end. But in the end it's all going to be worth it and you are going to be so happy." She finished and just as she did she heard a scream coming from inside the house, and getting closer. Quickly she put the baby back where her mother had placed her, "You'll be ok Miwa, I promise." She said and with that she disappeared into the forest, Miwa's cries getting louder as she left.

Karai positioned herself so that she could still watch for the guys, but as a result she saw Saki take Miwa into his arms.

"You will be mine to care for little one, and I will call you Karai." He said, and far but still close enough in the shadows behind him the much older Karai scowled.

The boys came from the building only a few moments later, dragging the unconscious body of Hamato Yoshi. He began to wake up, and so the left him in front of the house and joined Karai in the woods.

"Where's Miwa?" Mikey asked her, tears already coating both his voice and his eyes.

"With Shredder," She answered and the guys all looked at her.

"You said… you said you would keep her safe?" Leo asked, his own voice cracking.

"I did, she wasn't burned in the fire." Karai defended

"Yeah but… you could've at least grown up as yourself." Raph said but Karai shook her head.

"Splinter had to loose everything in order to move to New York, including me. Had I not been kidnapped he probably would've rebuilt the dojo and rebuilt our life here, or worse, ended up like Shredder and raised me as hell bent on revenge as Shredder did." She continued, "I couldn't take that risk," she admitted and in response Mikey, who was already sobbing from what he had seen inside that house, threw his arms around her just as they heard Yoshi scream for his wife.

* * *

They were all wrecks that night. Sitting silently in a circle by their campfire, the only sounds coming from whoever was crying. They all cried that night, and even though she made the choice not to keep herself away from Shredder Karai was still upset about her mother. She had managed to keep a straight face while Mikey cried and she held him for comfort. But once he had cried himself to sleep and eventually rolled off her, her own sadness began too slowly eat away at her. Quickly and defensively she pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms, but it wasn't long before she felt a hand on her shoulder. With a sniffle she looked up and saw Leo taking a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry Karai, we tried to save her." He said to her and she smiled through her tears.

"I know you did," she said as she wiped her eyes. Leo then pulled her into a hug and let her cry against him. As he held her and felt her entire body shuttering against him he hated that this was the way things have to be, because it sucks. They're stuck in the past, and despite their best efforts it was too little too late and they were forced to watch as everything fell apart.

They were awoken the next morning by bright light overhead in the sky, and from it descended, or rather fell, Renet.

"Yes! Finally I found you!" She exclaimed as she dizzily picked herself up.

"Renet!" Mikey exclaimed as he latched onto the girl.

"It's good to see you too Mikey," Renet said with relief, patting the turtle on the head.

"Where have you been? We've been stuck here for days!" Raph demanded, furious that the reason they had to go through last night was an airheaded timekeeper in training, heavy emphasis on training.

"It's not my fault," Renet was quick to defend, "It was the scepter; it brought you here to make sure Splinter survived." She explained and that was when it dawned on them.

They had pulled Splinter from that fire, he had been unconscious and buried under flaming ruble, and they pulled him out.

"Wait it's always been this way? We were always destined to come back in time and save Splinter?" Donnie asked

"Ugh, can you just take us home now?" Raph requested

"Please," Karai added in the same impatient voice as Raph.

"Sure thing," Renet said with a sympathetic smile.

* * *

When they returned to the lair none of them had a clue of how to face Sensei. But Renet had only brought them back a mere hour after they left, and so obviously Splinter became concerned when his children returned home so soon, all looking to be some strange mix of depressed and relieved.

"What happened on your patrol?" He asked, they all looked up at him with expressions of heartbreak, and Miwa even looked angry.

She was the first to respond to him, though she did not do it with words. Instead she turned on her heel and headed off if the direction of her bedroom.

"She's been through a lot," Leo hesitantly said, "Do you think we could talk to you in the dojo?" He continued and Splinter nodded, suddenly more worried than he already was about their short patrol.

As the boys were following Splinter Raph pulled Leo aside.

"I'm gonna talk to Karai," He said

"Raph, I think she needs to be alone right now." Leo responded

"Well I don't, look Leo she's angry. I don't know why but she is, that only gets worse when left alone." Raph persisted and Leo contemplated that idea, but then decided that Raph knows anger better than anyone, so he'd trust him on this.

* * *

Karai took her mother's hairpin from her pocket and examined it, after all these years she finally has a piece of her mother. More than that she has memories, and more than that they're good memories. She can now remember her mother's voice, her laugh, even her embrace. That trip to the past did make one thing better; it allowed her to get to know her mother.

A knock at her door snapped her from her thoughts and so she placed the pin in the top drawer of her dresser and then went and answered the door. Much to her surprise Raph was the one standing outside the door and so with no other idea of what to do she let him in.

"Can I help you?" She asked, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, look I get why you were angry while we were in the past, and I get you being angry now, but what I don't get is you being angry at Splinter." He said, knowing based on the way her anger had gone from zero to sixty in the half a second she looked at Splinter that he was the target of her anger.

"Raph I don't want to do this right now," she groaned

"Karai, I know you and me aren't exactly best friends but take it from me, keeping anger to yourself only makes things worse." He said and she only rolled her eyes.

"Well sorry to disappoint you Raph but I'm not one for talking," she deadpanned but Raph only smirked.

"I'm not asking you to talk," he said as he held out his hand. "Hit me," he instructed her.

"What?" She asked, completely confused.

"Hit me," he said again

"Raph I'm not going to-"

"Oh for the love of, would you just hit me!" He more shouted and Karai gave in and gently punched the palm of his hand.

"Again, harder." He instructed and so she did it just a little harder. "Harder," he ordered again and again she only went just a hair harder. "Come on I've seen you hit 20x harder than that!" He scolded and so she went harder, then harder again, then harder again, until she was using almost all her strength and Raph still was barely wavering an inch.

"Good, now what are you punching?" He asked

"Your hand," Karai replied in between punches

"I mean what are you wishing it was?" He clarified

"Every single lie I was ever told," she seethed

"Come on Karai, you're mad about more than Shredder's lies!" Raph exclaimed

"Not him, Splinter!" She responded and with that they both stopped cold. "Nice trick, do it again and it WILL be you I want to punch." She warned

"Karai, when did Splinter ever lie to you?" Raph asked, completely unfazed by her threat.

"He didn't lie," she answered while crossing her arms over her chest. "He just conveniently forgot to mention that I was an accident, him and my mother only decided to get married because of me, he was a jerk to Shredder, he and my mother were not only fighting during the days before the fire but had also been separated for months, and that my mother actually was on the verge of leaving him for Shredder!" She all but shouted, Raph wanted to respond, but before he could a knock came from the door. "What?" Karai snapped but when the door opened to reveal Splinter she almost regretted it, almost.

"The others explained to me what happened, may I have a moment with Miwa alone Raphael?" He asked and Raph, terrified for his sister as he was, nodded and left the room.

Once they were alone Karai sat on her bed and pulled her knees to her chest, looking away from her father as he sat next to her.

"Miwa," he began gently but she wouldn't listen.

"I know it's true," she spat, "every single thing you just heard me say to Raph is true, so don't you even try to tell me it's not." She warned and Splinter sighed.

"After the fire, I had lost everything. I fled to New York because it was the place your mother had wanted to go, and I still remember that I spent the entire flight thinking about how much I wished more than anything that I had listened to her when she suggested we move here together. It haunted me, and I knew that although it was Saki's blade that killed Shen I had no one to blame for her death, and at the time your death, but myself. When I was mutated and found the boys, they became my new start and I promised myself that I was going to care for them the way I should've cared for you." He explained and by now Karai's anger was fleeting, and she was listening intently. "By the time you returned you were so angry and so full of hate for Saki, and I was so happy to have you back, I never even considered that the problems between your mother and I so long ago could matter; but I should have." He continued, almost looking as though he might cry. "I am sorry my daughter, I should have told you what happened" He finished and with that Karai threw her arms around him.

* * *

She thought that was the end of discussing their little trip to the past, but she was wrong. It had to have been close to three in the morning when Karai awoke at the sound of her door creaking open.

"Karai?" Mikey's voice whispered from the doorway.

"Yeah?" She asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Without a word Mikey hurried into the room and crawled into his sister's bed, something that slightly annoyed her considering she has a twin bed and so the two of them in it made it very squished.

"Are Raph and Leo going to end up like young Splinter and Shredder?" He asked; the question had been gnawing at him ever since they eavesdropped on that first argument in the dojo.

"No," Karai answered, how could Mikey even think that? "Leo and Raph have their differences but they'll never end up like that." She assured her brother

"How do you know?" He asked, she thought for a minute before smiling.

"Because Raph and Leo have us," she said, "They get on each other's nerves, but they have us and Donnie to keep them in check." She continued.

"What if we can't keep them in check?" Mikey asked but his sister still smiled.

"Mikey, Leo and Raph may fight a lot but they know how to put they aren't going to end up like that, you gotta trust me on this." She said and so with a small smile Mikey nodded.

"Ok, goodnight." He said, rolling over but not getting out of her bed.

With a roll of her eyes Karai adjusted her position and tried to fall asleep, but with her little brother laying next to her and practically pushing her off the bed she only had one thought run through her head.

This was totally worth it.


End file.
